| We trade in our pitiful iPod for a pretty impressive iPhone. We chuck out our winter Ugg boots for summer's gladiator sandals. We tip the old digital TV for the latest HD model. And sometimes, unfortunately, we transfer our 'out with old, in with the new' attitude to people. If somebody's getting a bit needy or old, or they just can't look after themselves as well as they used to, we treat them like last year's model. We dump them on the slag heap.
But that's not the attitude a Jesus follower should take. We should be more like the geese. When a bird is too old or ill or injured to carry on with the flight, the other birds don't leave them for dead. What happens is that two stronger geese leave the formation, flying with the 'patient' safely between them, finding shelter, food and a new home for the needy bird. These stronger birds stay with the weaker one until it either recovers or dies. What a lesson in self-sacrificing love.
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians says the same: 'God has combined the members of the body ... that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it' (12:24,25 NIV). God hates it when we treat people like disposable rubbish: 'Never walk away from someone who deserves help. Your hand is God's hand for that person' (Prov. 3:27). If a simple bird can do it, so can we. |
